Riot Games wants a court to end its ‘League of Legends’ sponsorship deal with FTX

The crypto exchange owes Riot at least $6.25 million.

Igor Bonifacic|@igorbonifacic|December 18, 2022 4:31 PM

Riot Games is trying to get out of its partnership with FTX The studio filed a motion with the court overseeing FTX's bankruptcy case to end their sponsorship agreement.

Riot said it still owes half of the 12.5 million it agreed to pay for the FTX branding at LCS events. The first quarterly payment of the year due on January 2nd is what Riot says the disgraced firm will owe it. The end of FTX's agreement with Riot will cause yearly payments to increase.

Riot Games just filed a motion in the FTX bankruptcy case to end their deal, pertaining to the League of Legends Championship series.

FTX still owes $6.25M (about half the payment) for 2022, and will owe $12.875M for 2023. Per the agreement, the payments escalate through 2028.

Riot has an interest in the case. More than a year before he was arrested on fraud charges, FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman- Fried admitted he was famous for playing League of Legend while on phone calls. When it was discovered that he wasn't very good at the game, it became a joke.

The images of Mr. Bankman-Fried playing League of Legends were displayed next to the text describing his cavalier attitude towards investor meetings and irresponsibility with corporate funds. Riot states that the images created a public narrative that Mr. Bankman Fried's interest in League of Legend was now juvenile. Mr. Bankman-Fried was the subject of online commentary when he was ranked in League of Legends.

Think again if you think Riot is going to stop using the code because of a high-profile implosion. The studio is trying to get a court to void its agreement with FTX so that it can get a new sponsor. Riots will incur more damages if they are not allowed to commercialize the crypto exchange sponsorship category. Hopefully the studio won't find itself in the same situation in the future.